


An Outing at the End of the World

by Gossamer



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, After Season 7, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Happy Birthday Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Romance, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22974283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gossamer/pseuds/Gossamer
Summary: Keith and Shiro find themselves racing from danger amidst the ruins of a broken world.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17
Collections: Shiro Birthday Exchange 2020





	An Outing at the End of the World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [corashirou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/corashirou/gifts).



> This fic was written as part of the Shiro Birthday Exchange as a gift for Corashirou. Among the requests was an interest in a survival horror AU that wasn't too dark, Shiro whump, and a happy ending. So, I tried to do a bit of post-apocalyptic fluff here. I'm hoping I hit that sweet spot between angst and fluff. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Side by side they raced through the streets of a crumbled city, engines roaring as they struggled to put distance between themselves and their pursuers. Shiro chanced a glance back over his shoulder, those dark shapes growing distant. A sharp stab of fear drove into him as he looked ahead. Pure adrenaline flooded his veins as he grit his teeth. His foot slammed down hard on the break as he dragged the bike into a reckless turn, just narrowly missing the wall of ooze stretching towards him. 

But not soon enough to avoid a telephone pole. 

There was no time to think about Shiro threw himself off his bike, hitting the ground hard with his metal shoulder. The ground seemed to sway around him, Shiro groaning as he struggled to push himself upright. Keith shouted somewhere nearby, and for a moment, Shiro could only stare at the dark, twisting tendrils that reached out. 

A wall of red skidded to a stop between them, Keith leaping off of his hoverbike just as it was overwhelmed. 

"Shiro, we've got to go!"

Keith's voice rang out in his ear, hands gripping at his arm, trying to tug him up. It snapped Shiro free from his shock and suddenly he was on his feet, eyes scanning the surrounding area. Filth just ahead, pulsating and oozing as it rolled over the bike, leaving the vehicle trapped in its dark webbing. And behind them came half a dozen distant screeches, like a terrible imitation of a human's scream. 

They turned in the only direction they could and raced towards the office building’s doors. Shiro through all the weight of his robotic arm into that door and sent it ripping right off the hinges. Keith was right on his heels, pack still slung over his shoulder. They pushed through the building, past empty offices that had been abandoned in a hurry. Tepid mugs of far too old coffee still sat on desks. A mail cart was tipped over, letters spilling all over the floor. 

"Where the hell did they come from? This area was clear yesterday!" Keith bit out, the two of them pausing at an emergency map still mounted on the floor. 

"Right now, we only need to worry about getting out of here in one piece." Shiro frowned, tracing the route to the emergency exit in the back. 

Keith's hand gripped the strap on his shoulder, knuckles whitening with the sharp grip. Shiro saw the frustration there on the younger man's face. He could practically see the thoughts undoubtedly running through Keith's head. He'd always been hard on himself. 

"Keith --"

A long, ear-splitting scratch of a claw against glass snapped them back to the here and now. Shiro's hair stood up on the back of his neck and, as one, he and Keith both slowly turned towards the glass-windowed office behind them. And there, staring out at them from behind the glass, stood a creature.

Creature, because it could not be called human any longer. No, it was more like some stranger mockery of human life. With a head and torso and each limb in all the right places. More of a shadow than a person, covered in that inky darkness. With arms that were just a little too long, and spindly fingers that faded into shadowy wisps pressed up against the glass. It drew its fist back and pounded on the window, leaving behind spidery cracks as the entire window shuddered. 

"Run!" It took a moment for Shiro to release that single, panicked command had flown from his mouth. And a second longer to realize he and Keith were already moving. They dashed through the office, shoving back chairs, tipping over trash cans. Anything that might slow that thing now. They skidded through the door at the opposite end, Keith nearly stumbling into the wall. The emergency door was there, at the end of the corridor. 

They were halfway to it when they realized it was already open, the deep red of a sunset flooding in around the mess of darkness spreading inside. Tendrils crept along the walls, the floors. Searching blindly forward, a writhing mass of slime that consumed all. 

Shiro shoved the fear down, and stumbled back, eyes sweeping the corridor. 

Staircase. Roof access. 

"This way!" he shouted, but Keith was already on his heels. The pair of them raced up the steps, swinging around the turn of each landing. A glance back showed Keith swinging his pack around as they ran, fumbling desperately for something inside. 

Flight after flight they ran up, ignoring the burning in their thighs or the way their lungs screamed.

Shiro crashed into the rooftop door, shoving hard against the bar before it swung open, sending him stumbling out beneath the red-cast sky. He rushed to the edge of the roof, catching himself against the barrier that was the only thing between him and a deadly drop. Another roof across and below, a jump that he wasn't certain they could make.

"Check around--" He never finished the command. Not as the sudden explosion ripped through the rooftop access, smoke and dust billowing up from the pile of rubble that had once been a covered stairwell. Keith was breathless, standing a few paces away from him, fingers clenched tight around a detonator in his hand. 

"Dropped explosives in the stairwell behind us," he explained, breath ragged. "Should buy us some time." 

Shiro stood stock still a moment, stairing at the pile of debris, hardly daring to move a muscle. It wasn't until he convinced himself that the roof wasn't going to collapse beneath their feet right that instant that he finally let out the shaky breath he'd been holding. 

"Good thinking," he said, clapping Keith's shoulder. And yet he couldn't shake the unease inside of him. Patience. Bravery. Perseverence. They had all gotten him through so many tough spots. From the desperate battles in the arena, to fights on the cosmic stage with the other Paladins, five fighting as one. But as he looked out over the broken remnants of a city that had once been so full of life, he felt another chunk of that resilience fall away. 

How could he not with the looming visage of the lions in the distance, each towering over the city, the dark growth upon their hulls like lichen. Infesting, having long since drained every last drop of quintessence from them. Now they were void of life, a monument to that final failed battle of a war they had already lost. Shiro's hand fell away from Keith's shoulder, that terrible image drawing him to the very edge of the rooftop. He gripped the railing tightly, teeth grit as he dropped his head. 

A soft hand sliding over his shoulder and there was Keith at his side, the younger man's face just as pensive. They stood side by side, watching the lions against the backdrop of the setting sun. 

"I'm tired, Keith." The sigh he breathed out shed none of the weight that settled over his shoulders. Shiro slumped against the railing, fingers clenched together. "We fought for so long, lost so much. Voltron, defender of the universe. Battling the entire Galra Empire." Shiro shook his head, a sardonic smile on his lips. "And of all the things to finally beat us, it was some alien microbe in the end." 

Keith's arm slipped around his waist, that ever-present, quiet support as Shiro allowed himself this moment of weakness. One he could never show in front of anyone else. They all relied on him, looked to him for answers even as the contaminant spread over the world. The lions might have been consumed, but the Paladins still stood for something in the eyes of those who still struggled on. 

"We're not going to make it back." Shiro's voice was flat, eyes dark as he lowered his gaze. From here, he could see the tendrils of filth crawling up buildings. Slowly spreading further, seeking out whatever bit of life was still left to be devoured. Keith's arm tightened around him, and when Shiro looked down, he found Keith's face turned up, concern in his eyes. His knuckles lightly brushed Shiro's cheek as they leaned in together, lips brushing. 

Keith could always steady him. His touch drew Shiro away from the sight of the lions, eyes slipping closed as he embraced the younger man, fingers tight in the back of Keith's jacket. Desperation and need alike deepened that slow draw of lips into something almost frenetic, the pair pressed together with the lions a shadow behind them. 

They sank down together, exhaustion dragging them to the ground until they were sitting together, breathless with their fingers twined. 

"I actually brought you out here to try and give you a break from all of that," Keith admitted, gaze dropping down to their joined hands. "Didn't really go as planned. Even scouted out the route yesterday just to make sure." 

"Keith, it's--" 

Keith cut Shiro off with a shake of his head. "Yeah, I know. Nothing ever really goes as planned with us, does it. But might as well while we're here." 

"Huh?" Shiro blinked, looking down at Keith quizzically, not quite following. But Keith was already pulling his pack forward, rummaging around in it. The younger man couldn't quite hide the wince at whatever it was he found. 

"Happy Birthday, Shiro." 

For a moment, Shiro could only stare. Because right there in front of him was Keith kneeling on the ground, holding out an extremely smooshed chocolate cupcake in one hand, complete with a candle. And with a flick of a lighter, the candle flickered to life, that tiny flame burning bright. And there, on the rooftop, with the lions coccooned and dormant behind them, and tendrils no doubt writhing somewhere beneath their feet, Shiro's face lit up. A sudden laugh burst free, and that was all it took to push away the anxiety and regret in that moment. 

Keith looked almost panicked a moment, cheeks flushed as he stared frantically down at the mess of a cupcake, chocolate staining his fingers. 

"It didn't look this bad before," he protested. "Hunk helped and--" 

Shiro didn't even wait for Keith to finish. He just yanked his boyfriend forward into a great big bear hug, nearly smashing the cupcake between them. It was only saved by Keith's quick thinking as he yanked his hand out to the side. 

"I didn't even realize it was my birthday. Kind of hard to keep track of the days when the world has ended." But Shiro was laughing, grinning as he pressed a kiss to Keith's forehead. “Thank you, Keith.”

And as the last rays of sunlight sank down behind the broken cityscape and the stars glittered like diamonds in the sky, the two men sat side by side on the rooftop, splitting one very smooshed cupcake. Shiro couldn't keep the delight off his face, licking the chocolate from his fingers as even the last crumbs had vanished. A cupcake was a rare treat these days, and any gift from Keith was extra special.

But Keith himself was the greatest gift. Someone who could lift Shiro's spirits, even as he gave the man a shoulder to lean on. And as they sat together, looking at the pile of rubble that blocked the stairwell, Shiro was already running through potential next steps. Plans and actions and complications and risk factors. There was always a risk though, but with he and Keith working together? 

"We've been in tighter spots than this before," Keith piped up from his side, already on that same train of thought. Shiro's eyes followed Keith as he rose to his feet, already walking the edge of the roof, eyeing their surroundings and their options with that fierce determination that had gotten him through so much. "And it's been a while since we made it up here. If it's gone dormant, than maybe..." 

There was a chance. There was always a chance. Even if it was the slimmest of chances, they had to take it. 

Shiro, with his hope renewed and his strength restored, rose to his feet, snagging up Keith's backpack along the way. 

"So, how far do you think you can jump?" he asked, pointing towards the next rooftop over. It would be a stretch for both of them, but with a running start than maybe...

And yet there was Keith, taking one look at that rooftop and grinning in that dare-devil way of his. It drew a confident smirk to Shiro's own lips, an echo of the reckless man he had been in his youth. He strode up beside Keith and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders. And for a moment, Keith leaned into that touch. With a push up on his toes, Keith pressed a chaste kiss to Shiro's lips before stepping back, rolling his own shoulders as he eyed the rooftop. 

"Let's go home."

❖

The previous afternoon had seen the two men riding out from the Garrison together on hoverbikes, racing across the arid desert towards the city in the distance. And it was only now, as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon that two distant figures, leaning heavily together, were first spotted by Pidge as she watched over the desert. Shouts rang out across the garrison halls, drawing the rest of their family out from their beds. 

Shiro and Keith stumbled up through that front gate together, exhausted, arms wrapped around each other. But Shiro's face was bright, smile growing wide as the others raced out to meet them. 

"You're back!" Allura cried out, dashing ahead of the rest and wrapping her arms around the both of them, nearly sending both men tumbling to the ground. "Oh, we had feared the worst! But you're okay." She drew back just enough, eyes narrowing as she looked them over. "You are both okay, aren't you?" 

"Yeah," Shiro breathed out, heart light, his hand squeezing Keith's shoulder. "We're good. Things are good."

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoyed writing this one a lot and have a lot of ideas for the AU. I'm toying with perhaps taking this concept and turning it into a long fic. Perhaps a bit more AU than what I wrote above (which is intended to be canon divergent after season 7). I'm just a sucker for post-apocalyptic stuff, and the ideas I'm currently playing with definitely have a strong Lovecraftian horror bent. 
> 
> But anyhow, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
